Kailasa Temple, Ellora, Aurangabad: History, Timings & Visitor Guide

Kailasa Temple, Ellora is open every day, usually from early morning to late evening with a break in the afternoon. Darshan and aarti timings change with the season and on festival days.

• MorningOpens early morning (around 5 to 6 AM)
• AfternoonShort break around midday at many temples
• EveningEvening aarti around sunset, closes by about 8 to 9 PM

Ask the temple office on arrival for the day's aarti schedule.

Dress Code & Temple Rules

• DressModest, traditional clothes covering shoulders and knees
• FootwearRemove before entering; use the shoe stand
• PhotographyNot allowed inside the sanctum
• Not AllowedLeather items, tobacco, alcohol, non-veg food
• QueueFollow queue lines and staff instructions on festival days

The Kailasa temple lacks a dedicatory inscription, but there is no doubt that it was commissioned by a Rashtrakuta ruler. Its construction is generally attributed to the Rashtrakuta king Krishna I (r. 756–773 CE), based on two epigraphs that link the temple to "Krishnaraja" (IAST Kṛṣṇarāja):

The Vadodara copper-plate inscription (c. 812–813 CE) of Karkaraja II (a ruler of a Rashtrakuta branch of Gujarat) records the grant of a village in present-day Gujarat. It mentions Krishnaraja as the patron of Kailasanatha, and also mentions a Shiva temple at Elapura (Ellora). It states that the king constructed a temple so wondrous that even the gods and the architect were astonished. Most scholars believe that this is a reference to the Kailasanatha Shiva temple at Ellora.

The Kadaba grant of Govinda Prabhutavarsha, discovered at Kadaba hobli in Gubbi taluka, similarly appears to credit Krishnaraja with the construction of the temple.

Architecture of Kailasa Temple, Ellora

The Kailasa temple architecture is different from the earlier style prevalent in the Deccan region. As stated above, it appears to be based on the Virupaksha Temple at Pattadakal and the Kailasa temple at Kanchi, but it is not an exact imitation of these two temples. The southern influence on the temple architecture can be attributed to the involvement of Chalukya and Pallava artists in its construction. The indigenous Deccan artisans appear to have played a subordinate role in the temple's construction.

The entrance to the temple courtyard features a low gopuram. Most of the deities at the left of the entrance are Shaivaite (affiliated with Shiva) while on the right hand side the deities are Vaishnavaites (affiliated with Vishnu). A two-storeyed gateway opens to reveal a U-shaped courtyard. The dimensions of the courtyard are 82 m x 46 m at the base. The courtyard is edged by a columned arcade three storeys high. The arcades are punctuated by huge sculpted panels, and alcoves containing enormous sculptures of a variety of deities. Originally flying bridges of stone connected these galleries to central temple structures, but these have fallen. Some of the most famous sculptures are Shiva the ascetic, Shiva the dancer, Shiva being warned by Parvati about the demon Ravana, and river goddess.